Best (and worst) fridge freezer tested

Six new Best Buys and one Don’t Buy

The best fridge freezers chill quickly to help keep your food fresher for longer

With an outstanding score of 89%, our top new Best Buy fridge freezer is the best we’ve tested that’s currently available. The same cannot be said for our new Don’t Buy, which earned a woeful score of 37%, the worst tested.

Such a big difference in scores perhaps isn’t surprising. The 14 fridge freezers we’ve just tested are a varied bunch to say the least. More than £1,000 separates the cheapest from the priciest, and there are eight big brands to choose from, including Bosch, Samsung and Zanussi.

Six fridge freezers impressed us enough to become Best Buys, but one stood out as the best of the best. And it costs less than you might think.

Best Buy fridge freezer

Our top new Best Buy, which costs less than £600, earned five stars in every one of our performance tests. But what does a top-performing fridge freezer mean for your food?

Well, for starters, you should find that the groceries in your fridge stay fresher for longer. Our top-scoring Best Buy fridge freezer is so rapid at chilling, it gives harmful, heat-loving bacteria hardly any time to eat into the lifespan of your food.

That’s not all. It’s energy efficient, so it won’t cost the earth to run, and it will maintain a stable temperature whatever the weather outside. Unlike with our Don’t Buy, there’s no chance of waking up after a cold wintry night to find half-frozen orange juice in the fridge.

Big vs small fridge freezers

Fridge freezers seem to be getting bigger and bigger. We’ve just tested three American fridge freezers, all of which are around 180cm high, 90cm wide and offer more than 400 litres of usable space.

That should be enough for even the biggest households, when you consider that the average freestanding fridge freezer contains less than 250 litres. For a spacious model that won’t break the bank, browse our top five best American fridge freezers.

But if you’ve got less space in your kitchen, compact fridge freezers are still available. The Zanussi ZRT23103WA, just tested, is only 140cm high, contains a modest 178 litres of usable space and costs just £249.